In an interview with Reuters, Carell explained that he returned to The Office to pay tribute to his former co-stars.

"I feel like I really said goodbye to it the first time [in 2011]," he said. "When I came back, it was primarily to honor the show and out of respect for all of my friends and the people who created it."

The actor went on to say: "I just wanted it to be a simple tip of the hat to the show and not to take away from the goodbye and the farewell that all of those people were having, because I felt like I already had mine and I didn't want to step on their moments."